29:02 "Virginia is for lovers" has a really cool historical meaning despite the poor execution. It refers to the Loving vs. Virginia trial in which it was ruled that banning interracial marriage was unconstitutional, thus legalizing interracial marriage for the first tine in the US.
@subbed2xcal, unfortunately, that's an urban legend, even though the motto was conceived the year after the Loving v. Virginia decision. Here's how the creative team described its genesis: ---- The Summer of Love was behind us, Woodstock was yet to come, and Martin and Woltz had just won the state tourism account. According to Hughes, the creative team is in George Woltz’s penthouse office, “talking about how they’d advertise Virginia. Because Virginia has history, and Virginia has beaches, and Virginia has mountains.” And that’s when this idea of “lovers” started getting tossed around. One person called out, “Virginia is for history lovers.” Another chimed in with “Virginia is for beach lovers.” Someone else suggested, “Virginia is for mountain lovers.” As Hughes tells it, that’s when a freelancer in the room suddenly piped up and asked, “Why don’t you just say, ‘Virginia is for Lovers’?” Thus, a star slogan was born. Though, as Hughes says, at the time it did feel just a little naughty “and a little daring for this not always cutting-edge state. But I do think because the executions were never salacious or anything like that, it just started catching on!”
I do appreciate that the misattribution of the slogan provides a history lesson about the landmark case to people who might not have heard of it otherwise. I also think it would have been amazing for the Virginia Tourism Board to highlight the Supreme Court case that Virginia just *lost* the year before to promote that they're somehow progressive on race. Of course, that would never happen. That'd be like after the 2003 Lawrence v. Texas case for Texas to immediately come out with "Texas is for sodomy" as a slogan. I very much do want that on my license plate. It's better than many of the bumper stickers and slogans people have on their vehicles here.
As a final note, at the time of Loving v. Virginia in 1967, interracial marriage was legal in most of the US. The only states where it was illegal happened to align exactly with the slave states¹ at start of the US Civil War, except for Maryland, which had only repealed it that year. Oklahoma wasn't yet a state, but did have slavery. I'm sure that's just an amazing coincidence! Though, to be fair, there were about as many states that only legalized it during the two decades before Loving v. Virginia. These were mostly in the Great Plains and western states, except Washington where its law was repealed before statehood. ¹ Slavery was legal in the District of Columbia until 1862, but interracial marriage was never illegal there. Not a state.
About 20 years ago, Colorado changed the plates by inverting the colors; before, it was a green background with white sky and letters. Either iteration is S-tier. I think the New Mexico plate is definitely underrated here. The turquoise is such a classic Southwestern color, and the bit of red in the middle really sets it off. Definitely more iconic than the previous red-and-yellow plate
Came to the comment section to point this out, so I'll add a fun tidbit - the older plates with the inverted colors were all coded by county using the first three letters (on cars) and the last two letters (on trucks). Being a giant nerd, I had these codes memorized, so I'd always know where in Colorado the plates were from.
Nice list, it’s really cool what you can learn about the states from the symbology used on the plates. Louisiana is indeed the pelican state and there are pelicans that live there. The tree on South Carolina’s plate is a palmetto, which is the state symbol because palmettos grow on the coast but also because they used palmetto wood to build forts in the revolutionary war because the softer wood would absorb cannon fire. Also, the symbol on Pennsylvania’s plate (and state highway signs) is a keystone (the top and most important stone of an arch) and Pennsylvania is the keystone state
Also the tree on the Oregon plate is our state tree, the Douglas Fir. 99% of the living things in our state is pretty much just doug fir, so its also a great tree to learn for region guessing the US. The entire northwestern quarter is just covered in the tree due to tree farming
2:25 For anyone that calls Arkansas a flyover state, you really need to go visit the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest there. What a beautiful part of the country!
The tree on South Carolina's plate is a palmetto tree and it is the state's official tree. You see a lot of them around the coast. The palmetto tree with the moon is also on the state's flag. Also, I am from NC, and you're pretty much dead on with the NC vs Ohio flight thing. The Wright Brothers were born in Ohio, but their first flight was at a place called Kitty Hawk on the Outer Banks, a chain of barrier islands off of NC's coast. There's a large sand dune there called Jockey's Ridge and like you said, the area is pretty flat, so it was a really ideal place to fly planes from. I've visited the Wright Brothers Memorial at the spot where they first flew several times, definitely a really cool place and the Outer Banks are super beautiful. Also kinda surprised you love NC's plate because I've always found it plain. But I do see it every day on my car. lol
And the reason for it being the state tree is that during the Revolutionary War the British bombarded Fort Sullivan (now Fort Moultrie) in Charleston, but were unable to break through the thick Palmetto log walls.
Idaho’s county code system for the plates is elite. First 1/2 digits indicate county, rest is just license numbers. It’s hilarious in small counties with very few cars because you can get license plate numbers like “S 2” 😂
The tree on the South Carolina is: Serenoa repens, commonly known as saw palmetto, is a small palm, growing to a maximum height around 200-300 cm (6.6-9.8 ft). This tree is also featured on South Carolina’s state flag as well.
Montana plate is super underrated in general, it looks like a lot of the older state plates with the flat dark color. Love the state outline. Iowa offers all black plates with text in white. "IOWA" on the top, numbers in the middle, county on bottom. They are EXTREMELY popular and should be pretty easy to recognize, just thought you should know! They're on 50+% of newer cars.
i did not expect such a complex and full analysis of US plates when i clicked on this video but boy oh boy was it good ! as someone who did art school even our teachers did not bothered to give such feedback on our works
I was living in Rhode Island around the time when the "wave" plate came out and the people there were really excited about the design. Also, RI has a thing with their plates--lower numbers (single, double digits) are like a status symbol. So, people are (or at least were) always after low number plates. Low number + wave = excitement!
Hey zig the part about PA and its signs is thats a keystone the traditional center piece of an arch made of stones. PA is the keystone state because of its impact in early US. Philadelphia was the nations for a decade and even before the constitution York PA was!!
Hey zigzag! FYI. Nebraska changes plates every 6 years, the nebraska plates in your vid changed last year, JSYK. Unfortunately i believe the new plates are quite harder to guess when looking at while blurred (not like you get nebraksa much lol) Thinking about it, that shouldn't be a problem for geoguessr anyways for at least a few years
I’m from Pennsylvania, the symbol on the plates and PA highway markers is suppose to be a keystone, and we were taught it’s because Pennsylvania is “the keystone state” which connects the north to south
Plate collectors in the states actually pay a lot of money for Wyoming tags. The number on the left is our county and then the other number is the order in which your vehicle was registered in that county. So an 11 on the left would be Park County and then 26205 would mean you were the 26,205th registered vehicle in that county. Also by law the plates have to have the cowboy image, the bronco is Steamboat. The image is Squaretop Mountain in the Wind River Range. Wyoming is called the cowboy state, and you’d have to visit to see why the plate is a pretty perfect representation of the state.
The states with only numbers are because those states don't have a population that requires letters too. They just don't need that many different plates.
im american, from cali, and Ive always looked into memorizing license plates and never could do it, and it also was quite boring just watching this has improved my knowledge a ton and it was fun common oscar W
The Indiana plate with the blue on the side is the "In God We Trust" plate, which in my experience (as a native and resident) is actually more common than the official plate, even though it costs extra. The official plate has a covered bridge on it (not a farmhouse), which Indiana has A LOT of covered bridges especially in the southern part of the state.
Delaware is a great plate for GeoGuessr, it’s a small area that looks like nearby states but the problem with Rhode Island and Delaware is that you get other plates on their states a lot
For me, my favourite plate is Louisiana. The peach colour is very unique and I like the simple font and how intelligible it is. My least favorite is Wyoming. It just looks confusing and I don't like the font either. However, I think Florida should be C tier and Delaware should be at least B tier. Everything else I agree with
just did this tier list, i dont play geoguessr much so its mostly based on aesthetics and what they could have done with it S- arizona, colorado, louisiana. love arizonas coloring, colorado is clean, louisianas colors and the pelican make a lot of sense for how i picture their states A- georgia, utah, florida, north carolina, oklahoma, alaska, maine. all of these had a very noticeable theme but were not executed well enough to deserve S B- idaho, oregon, washington, hawaii, new jersey, rhode island. idaho + new jersey just look nice + idaho made sure to include some natural scenery. hawaii shouldve committed to their identity more, feels like theres too much negative space. mt rainier blends in too well with the rest of the plate in washington. C- south dakota, alabama, wyoming, nevada, new mexico, south dakota, iowa, new york, delaware, mississippi, kansas, illinois, south dakota, maryland, indiana, new hampshire. these plates at least put some effort into their designs. D- connecticut, pennsylvania, tennessee, kentucky, minnesota, texas, michigan, massachusetts, california, nebraska, ohio, arkansas, DC, missouri, montana, virginia, west virginia, wisconsin. plates are far too generic.
The eight living pelican species have a patchy, seasonally-dependent yet global distribution, ranging latitudinally from the tropics to the temperate zone. Pelicans are absent from interior Amazonian South America, from polar regions and the open ocean; at least one species is known to migrate to the inland desert of Australia's Red Centre, after heavy rains create temporary lakes. White pelicans are also observed at the American state of Utah's Great Salt Lake, for example, some 600 miles (965 km) from the nearest coastline (the Pacific West Coast). They have also been seen hundreds of miles inland in North America, having flown northwards along the Mississippi River and other large waterways. Pelicans will frequent inland waterways but are most known for residing along maritime and coastal zones, where they feed principally on fish in their large throat pouches, diving into the water and catching them at/near the water's surface. They can adapt to varying degrees of water salinity, from freshwater and brackish to-most commonly-seawater. They are gregarious birds, travelling in flocks, hunting cooperatively, and breeding colonially. Four white-plumaged species tend to nest on the ground, and four brown or grey-plumaged species nest mainly in trees. The relationship between pelicans and people has often been contentious. The birds have been persecuted because of their perceived competition with commercial and recreational fishing. Their populations have fallen through habitat destruction, disturbance, and environmental pollution, and three species are of conservation concern. They also have a long history of cultural significance in mythology, and in Christian and heraldic iconography. Modern pelicans are found on all continents except Antarctica. They primarily inhabit warm regions, although breeding ranges extend to latitudes of 45° South (Australian pelicans in Tasmania) and 60° North (American white pelicans in western Canada). Birds of inland and coastal waters, they are absent from polar regions, the deep ocean, oceanic islands (except the Galapagos), and inland South America, as well as from the eastern coast of South America from the mouth of the Amazon River southwards. Subfossil bones have been recovered from as far south as New Zealand's South Island,[59] although their scarcity and isolated occurrence suggests that these remains may have merely been vagrants from Australia (much as is the case today).
When American plates have names at the bottom they typically indicate a county, I don’t think that any state with parishes use this design. So typically a county
Be careful of the Florida Plate meta for Geoguessr... Lots of retired people live half the year in FL but will register all their vehicles there regardless of the state they are in the other half of the year. Here in NY I think I see more FL plates than Conn/NJ/PA ones. So that one out of place FL plate you see, is just that. Surprised the outdated NY plate is on here... the attempt at reviving the classic orange and blue did not last, and the new plate is much less interesting and just too similar to a lot of other states now.
As an Oregonian, I'd say you ranked our plate too low. But you have us above California so all is forgiven. There are more than 20 Oregon plates to choose from, so it can be a bit of a minefield on GeoGuessr. I've seen a GeoGuessr mistake one of our classic plates for NY and get basically no points. Cheers.
This was a fun video idea, I have always been obsessed with finding all different kinds of license plates when on the road. We have very similar opinions, Colorado's plate is definitely S tier. Your opinion on California's plate is one I have never heard/considered. Living in California I always disliked how boring the plate looks with its lack of colors and graphics.
Virginia was the first successful British colony in mainland North America. Post-independence, Delaware was the first state to ratify the new American Constitution.
So my favorite plates are Florida and North Carolina My least favorite plates are so many but here we go: South Carolina, Missouri, Iowa Kansas, Michigan and of course…. 🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁…… Wyoming
So now Colorado has a bunch of new plates you can choose from, the green and white with mountains, white and green with mountains, just opposite color schemes, a colorful one with orange and blues, a red and white, and a black with white. This one will cause a bunch of issues in geoquesser because a bunch of states have the black with white. One comment on the colorado plate, yes we've had the white with green for a long time, but the colors were switched about 2000. That's what I meant about the 2 choices I mentioned above. Basically Colorado is now offering all the plates from the past as options now. And the black with white is the most common one I see people choosing. So, good luck with these, and I know colorado is already a state that causes issues. One thing I use to sometimes know its colorado is the sky, it can look different due to the shade of blue, but any of the states that are at a higher elevation can have a lighter shade of blue. But i do agree, Colorado plates are really great.
I honestly think Maine is an S Tier because the black bordering and rustic feel really gives the pine forest vibe and matches the state.. Also delaware isnt THAT ugly to me
As a Missourian the license plate deserves to be in a tier lower by itself as it is complete garbage. They remade the plate to the one in the video 10 or so years ago and was the worst decision ever.
Fun license plate fact- in Ohio at least (not sure about other states, please let me know), people who get their licenses restricted due to drunk driving have to have yellow plates. We call them "party plates" and if you see one you know to be careful around that driver. So if you see a yellow/orange plate you have to look closely, "is it a New Yorker or a drunk driver?" lol
I just want you to imagine that you've never seen the Oklahoma plate before and you're driving 60 mph (96.5 kmh) behind someone with that plate. Are you able to tell in the slightest what the shape is supposed to be? Lots of people have license plate frames, at which point it doesn't look anything like a bird. I just don't think it's a good plate.
Tennessee in C feels disrespectful especially with the dash between the numbers and letter being the outline of the actual state. Feel like it should be atleast B but might be my bias. Also I am sad to tell you we changed our plates now its just a lame dark blue :(
So New York's state colors are blue and gold, the color of those license plates. We hate them (they also were poor quality and peel a lot). In fact, they became our design while we had a blind governor, so we think that came into play ;) The new NY ones are much better. Heck the old NY ones were much better too.
29:02 "Virginia is for lovers" has a really cool historical meaning despite the poor execution. It refers to the Loving vs. Virginia trial in which it was ruled that banning interracial marriage was unconstitutional, thus legalizing interracial marriage for the first tine in the US.
As a Virginian I completely agree with him that it’s a terrible slogan
as a washingtonian I also agree, but since he's Australian I thought he might like to learn the history behind it@@shadowfax3505
@subbed2xcal, unfortunately, that's an urban legend, even though the motto was conceived the year after the Loving v. Virginia decision. Here's how the creative team described its genesis:
----
The Summer of Love was behind us, Woodstock was yet to come, and Martin and Woltz had just won the state tourism account. According to Hughes, the creative team is in George Woltz’s penthouse office, “talking about how they’d advertise Virginia. Because Virginia has history, and Virginia has beaches, and Virginia has mountains.” And that’s when this idea of “lovers” started getting tossed around. One person called out, “Virginia is for history lovers.” Another chimed in with “Virginia is for beach lovers.” Someone else suggested, “Virginia is for mountain lovers.”
As Hughes tells it, that’s when a freelancer in the room suddenly piped up and asked, “Why don’t you just say, ‘Virginia is for Lovers’?”
Thus, a star slogan was born. Though, as Hughes says, at the time it did feel just a little naughty “and a little daring for this not always cutting-edge state. But I do think because the executions were never salacious or anything like that, it just started catching on!”
I do appreciate that the misattribution of the slogan provides a history lesson about the landmark case to people who might not have heard of it otherwise.
I also think it would have been amazing for the Virginia Tourism Board to highlight the Supreme Court case that Virginia just *lost* the year before to promote that they're somehow progressive on race. Of course, that would never happen.
That'd be like after the 2003 Lawrence v. Texas case for Texas to immediately come out with "Texas is for sodomy" as a slogan. I very much do want that on my license plate. It's better than many of the bumper stickers and slogans people have on their vehicles here.
As a final note, at the time of Loving v. Virginia in 1967, interracial marriage was legal in most of the US. The only states where it was illegal happened to align exactly with the slave states¹ at start of the US Civil War, except for Maryland, which had only repealed it that year. Oklahoma wasn't yet a state, but did have slavery.
I'm sure that's just an amazing coincidence!
Though, to be fair, there were about as many states that only legalized it during the two decades before Loving v. Virginia. These were mostly in the Great Plains and western states, except Washington where its law was repealed before statehood.
¹ Slavery was legal in the District of Columbia until 1862, but interracial marriage was never illegal there. Not a state.
About 20 years ago, Colorado changed the plates by inverting the colors; before, it was a green background with white sky and letters. Either iteration is S-tier.
I think the New Mexico plate is definitely underrated here. The turquoise is such a classic Southwestern color, and the bit of red in the middle really sets it off. Definitely more iconic than the previous red-and-yellow plate
New Mexico is top 3 for me tbh
Came to the comment section to point this out, so I'll add a fun tidbit - the older plates with the inverted colors were all coded by county using the first three letters (on cars) and the last two letters (on trucks). Being a giant nerd, I had these codes memorized, so I'd always know where in Colorado the plates were from.
the Delaware plate is a clear S-Tier plate. gotta lock in oscar
Thank you!!
"It doesn't really make me feel anything" sums up living in Connecticut quite nicely 👍🏻
Denephew can't elope but Jerry can.
yall not hearing him tho
But can they bring their family a warren buffet?
the cantaloupe one was crazy 😭
Nice list, it’s really cool what you can learn about the states from the symbology used on the plates. Louisiana is indeed the pelican state and there are pelicans that live there. The tree on South Carolina’s plate is a palmetto, which is the state symbol because palmettos grow on the coast but also because they used palmetto wood to build forts in the revolutionary war because the softer wood would absorb cannon fire. Also, the symbol on Pennsylvania’s plate (and state highway signs) is a keystone (the top and most important stone of an arch) and Pennsylvania is the keystone state
Also the tree on the Oregon plate is our state tree, the Douglas Fir. 99% of the living things in our state is pretty much just doug fir, so its also a great tree to learn for region guessing the US. The entire northwestern quarter is just covered in the tree due to tree farming
2:25 For anyone that calls Arkansas a flyover state, you really need to go visit the Ozark-St. Francis National Forest there. What a beautiful part of the country!
The tree on South Carolina's plate is a palmetto tree and it is the state's official tree. You see a lot of them around the coast. The palmetto tree with the moon is also on the state's flag.
Also, I am from NC, and you're pretty much dead on with the NC vs Ohio flight thing. The Wright Brothers were born in Ohio, but their first flight was at a place called Kitty Hawk on the Outer Banks, a chain of barrier islands off of NC's coast. There's a large sand dune there called Jockey's Ridge and like you said, the area is pretty flat, so it was a really ideal place to fly planes from. I've visited the Wright Brothers Memorial at the spot where they first flew several times, definitely a really cool place and the Outer Banks are super beautiful.
Also kinda surprised you love NC's plate because I've always found it plain. But I do see it every day on my car. lol
And the reason for it being the state tree is that during the Revolutionary War the British bombarded Fort Sullivan (now Fort Moultrie) in Charleston, but were unable to break through the thick Palmetto log walls.
canteloupe joke earlier was a certified banger 🔥
actually tho 🔥
Idaho’s county code system for the plates is elite. First 1/2 digits indicate county, rest is just license numbers. It’s hilarious in small counties with very few cars because you can get license plate numbers like “S 2” 😂
The tree on the South Carolina is: Serenoa repens, commonly known as saw palmetto, is a small palm, growing to a maximum height around 200-300 cm (6.6-9.8 ft). This tree is also featured on South Carolina’s state flag as well.
As someone from Virginia, I think we honestly have the worst plate. There should be an F tier only for us
I can definitely agree about the basic Michigan plate. The newer blue plate with gold font is so much better.
W video I agree with a lot of your rankings 😁 Vermont is one of my favorites, it’s so clean and I love the green. I also really like Delaware honestly
The highway shield for PA is a keystone. Its also know as "the Keystone state". Keystone as in the central stone in an arch.
Montana plate is super underrated in general, it looks like a lot of the older state plates with the flat dark color. Love the state outline.
Iowa offers all black plates with text in white. "IOWA" on the top, numbers in the middle, county on bottom. They are EXTREMELY popular and should be pretty easy to recognize, just thought you should know! They're on 50+% of newer cars.
i did not expect such a complex and full analysis of US plates when i clicked on this video but boy oh boy was it good ! as someone who did art school even our teachers did not bothered to give such feedback on our works
cantaloupe and Warren buffet selfmade jokes superior>>
Still don’t get the Warren Buffet joke tbh
@@mizraaa Warren is a rabbit's burrow or home and buffet means a large meal so that's that
ALSO CUTE PROFILE PIC
I was living in Rhode Island around the time when the "wave" plate came out and the people there were really excited about the design. Also, RI has a thing with their plates--lower numbers (single, double digits) are like a status symbol. So, people are (or at least were) always after low number plates. Low number + wave = excitement!
happy celebrate to anyone that saturdays
Can Oscar just not see dark blue? He keeps saying it’s black 😂
Yeah I was like the Delaware one is clearly navy but I guess I’m so used to it, also he could have thought it was the lighting that make it look blue
Hey zig the part about PA and its signs is thats a keystone the traditional center piece of an arch made of stones. PA is the keystone state because of its impact in early US. Philadelphia was the nations for a decade and even before the constitution York PA was!!
As a Coloradan, you got Colorado right! 🎉
26:50 tennessee has new plates which i vastly prefer. They're a lot more simplistic but theyre a very nice blue with the tri-star logo.
TN checking in, came to mention our new plates too 🫡
Call me Warren Buffett the way I cantaloupe
The tree on the Oregon plate is a Douglas fir (the state tree)
Here before countries start hiring zigzag for plate design
Hey zigzag! FYI. Nebraska changes plates every 6 years, the nebraska plates in your vid changed last year, JSYK.
Unfortunately i believe the new plates are quite harder to guess when looking at while blurred (not like you get nebraksa much lol)
Thinking about it, that shouldn't be a problem for geoguessr anyways for at least a few years
I’m from Pennsylvania, the symbol on the plates and PA highway markers is suppose to be a keystone, and we were taught it’s because Pennsylvania is “the keystone state” which connects the north to south
Plate collectors in the states actually pay a lot of money for Wyoming tags. The number on the left is our county and then the other number is the order in which your vehicle was registered in that county. So an 11 on the left would be Park County and then 26205 would mean you were the 26,205th registered vehicle in that county.
Also by law the plates have to have the cowboy image, the bronco is Steamboat. The image is Squaretop Mountain in the Wind River Range. Wyoming is called the cowboy state, and you’d have to visit to see why the plate is a pretty perfect representation of the state.
The states with only numbers are because those states don't have a population that requires letters too. They just don't need that many different plates.
Completely agree with Colorado. Whenever I see a random CO plate on the road I feel privileged, it's very well designed
Yeah CO plates slap, even the red fleet version of the plates slap.
im american, from cali, and Ive always looked into memorizing license plates and never could do it, and it also was quite boring
just watching this has improved my knowledge a ton and it was fun
common oscar W
The Indiana plate with the blue on the side is the "In God We Trust" plate, which in my experience (as a native and resident) is actually more common than the official plate, even though it costs extra. The official plate has a covered bridge on it (not a farmhouse), which Indiana has A LOT of covered bridges especially in the southern part of the state.
Also - watching you to attempt to guess American history based off of what you can read off the plates is so hilarious
You under-rated Delaware. It is both distinctive - doesn’t look like any other - and very easy to read.
New York plates are amazing outside of the city because so many rural and small cities look like nearby states
I live in Utah I totally agree with you about Wyoming and Idaho license plates haha. Both so bad and I see them fairly regularly
Delaware is a great plate for GeoGuessr, it’s a small area that looks like nearby states but the problem with Rhode Island and Delaware is that you get other plates on their states a lot
Oklahoma fan here, I’m very happy that we got a A tier
If only the older 2000's-2012 Texas plates were in use still. They would actually be S tier if they were around still
For me, my favourite plate is Louisiana. The peach colour is very unique and I like the simple font and how intelligible it is.
My least favorite is Wyoming. It just looks confusing and I don't like the font either.
However, I think Florida should be C tier and Delaware should be at least B tier. Everything else I agree with
North Carolina plates should read:
“We invented flight, your welcome”
The black New Mexico plate with the chile on it is my favorite by far, though I like the blue one too.
The arch is called Delicate Arch
I love your tier list videos cause I often disagree completely!!!
ya the california one is as plain as can be, yet it gets a B...
just did this tier list, i dont play geoguessr much so its mostly based on aesthetics and what they could have done with it
S- arizona, colorado, louisiana. love arizonas coloring, colorado is clean, louisianas colors and the pelican make a lot of sense for how i picture their states
A- georgia, utah, florida, north carolina, oklahoma, alaska, maine. all of these had a very noticeable theme but were not executed well enough to deserve S
B- idaho, oregon, washington, hawaii, new jersey, rhode island. idaho + new jersey just look nice + idaho made sure to include some natural scenery. hawaii shouldve committed to their identity more, feels like theres too much negative space. mt rainier blends in too well with the rest of the plate in washington.
C- south dakota, alabama, wyoming, nevada, new mexico, south dakota, iowa, new york, delaware, mississippi, kansas, illinois, south dakota, maryland, indiana, new hampshire. these plates at least put some effort into their designs.
D- connecticut, pennsylvania, tennessee, kentucky, minnesota, texas, michigan, massachusetts, california, nebraska, ohio, arkansas, DC, missouri, montana, virginia, west virginia, wisconsin. plates are far too generic.
the structure on the Indiana plate is a covered bridge, which are pretty common in rural areas of the state
The eight living pelican species have a patchy, seasonally-dependent yet global distribution, ranging latitudinally from the tropics to the temperate zone. Pelicans are absent from interior Amazonian South America, from polar regions and the open ocean; at least one species is known to migrate to the inland desert of Australia's Red Centre, after heavy rains create temporary lakes. White pelicans are also observed at the American state of Utah's Great Salt Lake, for example, some 600 miles (965 km) from the nearest coastline (the Pacific West Coast). They have also been seen hundreds of miles inland in North America, having flown northwards along the Mississippi River and other large waterways.
Pelicans will frequent inland waterways but are most known for residing along maritime and coastal zones, where they feed principally on fish in their large throat pouches, diving into the water and catching them at/near the water's surface. They can adapt to varying degrees of water salinity, from freshwater and brackish to-most commonly-seawater. They are gregarious birds, travelling in flocks, hunting cooperatively, and breeding colonially. Four white-plumaged species tend to nest on the ground, and four brown or grey-plumaged species nest mainly in trees. The relationship between pelicans and people has often been contentious. The birds have been persecuted because of their perceived competition with commercial and recreational fishing. Their populations have fallen through habitat destruction, disturbance, and environmental pollution, and three species are of conservation concern. They also have a long history of cultural significance in mythology, and in Christian and heraldic iconography.
Modern pelicans are found on all continents except Antarctica. They primarily inhabit warm regions, although breeding ranges extend to latitudes of 45° South (Australian pelicans in Tasmania) and 60° North (American white pelicans in western Canada). Birds of inland and coastal waters, they are absent from polar regions, the deep ocean, oceanic islands (except the Galapagos), and inland South America, as well as from the eastern coast of South America from the mouth of the Amazon River southwards. Subfossil bones have been recovered from as far south as New Zealand's South Island,[59] although their scarcity and isolated occurrence suggests that these remains may have merely been vagrants from Australia (much as is the case today).
I'm from Pennsylvania and listening to you flame Ohio's plate warmed something in my heart
I agree with most of this, but the Arizona plate has always been one of my favorites.
You’re the reason Geography is my highest grade
Arizona is S tier license plate (and their state flag is too)
I’m still confused about the Warren Buffet rabbit
When American plates have names at the bottom they typically indicate a county, I don’t think that any state with parishes use this design. So typically a county
you should review some vanity plates. Virginia's don't tread on me vanity plate (which is extremely common) is very cool and distinctive
fyi Oregon has added a variety of new colorful plates in the last few years. They are now showing up on street view from time to time
Be careful of the Florida Plate meta for Geoguessr...
Lots of retired people live half the year in FL but will register all their vehicles there regardless of the state they are in the other half of the year. Here in NY I think I see more FL plates than Conn/NJ/PA ones. So that one out of place FL plate you see, is just that.
Surprised the outdated NY plate is on here... the attempt at reviving the classic orange and blue did not last, and the new plate is much less interesting and just too similar to a lot of other states now.
On Washington's plate is Mount Rainier which is Washington's most iconic mountain
As an Oregonian, I'd say you ranked our plate too low. But you have us above California so all is forgiven. There are more than 20 Oregon plates to choose from, so it can be a bit of a minefield on GeoGuessr. I've seen a GeoGuessr mistake one of our classic plates for NY and get basically no points. Cheers.
Yes, exactly the niche content i will think will remain in my long term memory but wont. Lets gooo
Love videos like this
This was a fun video idea, I have always been obsessed with finding all different kinds of license plates when on the road. We have very similar opinions, Colorado's plate is definitely S tier. Your opinion on California's plate is one I have never heard/considered. Living in California I always disliked how boring the plate looks with its lack of colors and graphics.
Virginia was the first successful British colony in mainland North America. Post-independence, Delaware was the first state to ratify the new American Constitution.
Love the list! but the Rhode island plate you used is the old one, they changed it a few years ago
Btw that's the old tennessee tag. There's probably other outdated ones here, too. Just thought I'd let you know.
New Mexico plates are yellow with a red Native American Zia symbol. Matched the state flag and is absolutely S tier
i was bored af, zigzag video to save the day !!!
So my favorite plates are Florida and North Carolina
My least favorite plates are so many but here we go:
South Carolina, Missouri, Iowa Kansas, Michigan and of course…. 🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁……
Wyoming
Louisiana state bird is a Brown Pelican 👍 hence the NBA team
I literally looked for a method to recignice US states by plate earlier today. Thanks Oscar!
thats so random but i love it
Plain white California plate over a Bear, that's crazy!
I have never agreed with a tier list this much
Delaware black license plates are common & Distinct enough, that you should become familiar
You're just straight-up wrong about New Mexico, lol. Easily one of the best, probably my favorite tbh. Classic.
So now Colorado has a bunch of new plates you can choose from, the green and white with mountains, white and green with mountains, just opposite color schemes, a colorful one with orange and blues, a red and white, and a black with white. This one will cause a bunch of issues in geoquesser because a bunch of states have the black with white.
One comment on the colorado plate, yes we've had the white with green for a long time, but the colors were switched about 2000. That's what I meant about the 2 choices I mentioned above. Basically Colorado is now offering all the plates from the past as options now.
And the black with white is the most common one I see people choosing.
So, good luck with these, and I know colorado is already a state that causes issues. One thing I use to sometimes know its colorado is the sky, it can look different due to the shade of blue, but any of the states that are at a higher elevation can have a lighter shade of blue.
But i do agree, Colorado plates are really great.
Virginia’s Don’t Tread on Me plate = S tier
There is a new Michigan plate thats much more unique, dark blue and yellow.
I honestly think Maine is an S Tier because the black bordering and rustic feel really gives the pine forest vibe and matches the state.. Also delaware isnt THAT ugly to me
As a Missourian the license plate deserves to be in a tier lower by itself as it is complete garbage. They remade the plate to the one in the video 10 or so years ago and was the worst decision ever.
Colorado: S-Tier plate, S-Tier flag!
Would love to see MX plates as well.
i’m texan and i also hate the white plate. our older plates are so much better, you should take a look at those. they’ve got so much more personality
Another W video by our GOAT !
According to Google. The pelican originated in France
Personal favorite is maybe South Dakota, and my least is 10000000% Virginia
What about the diplomatic plates? Most have quite an iconic blue and probably are mainly found in Washington D.C. as it’s the capital.
Fun license plate fact- in Ohio at least (not sure about other states, please let me know), people who get their licenses restricted due to drunk driving have to have yellow plates. We call them "party plates" and if you see one you know to be careful around that driver. So if you see a yellow/orange plate you have to look closely, "is it a New Yorker or a drunk driver?" lol
Disagree with Delaware placement but other than that cool vid
Oklahoma A-tier, legendary bruh. 🧠
he dropped a vid straight after the tourney 😌
The real South Carolina license plate looks way better and I would rank it s
I just want you to imagine that you've never seen the Oklahoma plate before and you're driving 60 mph (96.5 kmh) behind someone with that plate. Are you able to tell in the slightest what the shape is supposed to be? Lots of people have license plate frames, at which point it doesn't look anything like a bird. I just don't think it's a good plate.
What’s the best way to learn the plates?
you should do eu next!
Tennessee in C feels disrespectful especially with the dash between the numbers and letter being the outline of the actual state. Feel like it should be atleast B but might be my bias. Also I am sad to tell you we changed our plates now its just a lame dark blue :(
Alaska is s tear for me
So New York's state colors are blue and gold, the color of those license plates. We hate them (they also were poor quality and peel a lot). In fact, they became our design while we had a blind governor, so we think that came into play ;) The new NY ones are much better. Heck the old NY ones were much better too.
usa meta go brr
It’s a pelican and we don’t hunt them